Advertisement
Published: March 5th 2010
22/2/10 - I had breakfast on my own as Lorenza was not feeling 100%. I asked a young lady working in the breakfast bar if she could point me in the direction of a pharmacy to get something for Lorenza. She kindly offered to go there for me saying that “It is much easier for me as I have my motorbike”. Not long after she was knocking at our door with the medicine I had asked for. A very kind gesture on her part, it is small acts of kindness like that which make a big difference in this world of ours.
We had a lunch date with our friend Yen, who would soon be departing for a climate change course in Sweden. Yen had just returned to Hanoi after visiting her family for Tet so we met for lunch in the city. Yen gave us a New Years gift of “lucky money” in a red envelope, this being a traditional gift when you first meet friends after Tet. It was great to catch up and share her excitement about the training program in Sweden. The future of our environment relies on people like Yen and they deserve as much
Yen
Yen gives Lorenza some "lucky money" as a traditional new years giftsupport and encouragement as possible.
Unfortunately, Lorenza had to leave the restaurant a bit early as she was not feeling well at all. She decided to go back for a nap at the hotel. I stayed a bit longer talking to Yen and then took a walk back around the lake. Close by to the bridge to the Turtle Pagoda I noticed a small, excited crowd of people and took a look at what they were all watching. I realised there was a very large turtle in the water, swimming close by the lake edge. I was a bit slow getting out my camera, but did mange to get some shots to prove I had seen the turtle. I think this is supposed to be very lucky to see this.
SOS - was it something we ate? Back at the hotel Lorenza was not looking too good so I suggested we go see a doctor. The hotel receptionist told me where I could find an English speaking doctor, so at about 5pm I bundled Lorenza into a taxi and took her to the International SOS medical clinic. Lucky I did this when I did; because a few
minutes after we arrived I was also violently ill. 4 hours later, after being admitted to the hospital, put on a drip and being pumped full of antibiotics we both regained enough strength to be released and return to our hotel room.
Thank our lucky stars we had travel insurance that would cover the hospital and treatment costs. The clinic and doctors were just fantastic. I now have a bit of a history of heart issues so they made sure all was 100%!o(MISSING)k before releasing us.
23/2/10 - We spent the day in bed resting. I had to cancel a small tour we had organised with a group called Hanoi Kids Club, we agreed with them to postpone it until the following day if we were fit enough. Our medical bills came to about US$720 each - a word of advice do not ever travel without adequate travel insurance.
A day with Tai and Quang from Hanoi Kids Club 24/2/10 - We had sufficiently recovered after resting all day and decided we should be able to meet with our guides from the Hanoi Kids Club. I will give more details about the club in a
separate blog entry; in short they are University students who give you a free tour in exchange for lunch and English conversation - a great idea and a lot of fun for us all.
Our two young guides had also organised for us to be joined by a German girl, Verena, who was currently living and working in China. The guys explained that we could share the taxi fares as we all wanted to visit mostly the same sites.
We had a great day visiting a silk village, the Museum of Ethnology and a ceramic village. We also enjoyed a great lunch together and the taxi sharing idea worked great for us all.
Tai and Quang were very informative and helpful guides. They were also able to take us to a few places that some tourists may not get to see, like a local festival at the silk village for the hero of the village. Plus, a cock fight in a back street that was being heavily bet on by the locals.
The Museum of Ethnology The Museum of Ethnology was my favourite place we visited that day. It is dedicated to providing information and
insight into the 54 ethnic groups that inhabit Vietnam. Tai gave us a really good tour and knew his stuff about the various ethnic groups. I think having him show us the museum made it even more interesting for us as he was very enthusiastic about his countries culture. Both Tai and Quang are great ambassadors for their country.
Verena was a good companion for the day also; it was reasonably obvious that Quang found her attractive. He was very respectful, but you could tell he would have enjoyed showing her around for a few more days if he had the chance.
I can see again! Tai also took us to an optometrist so that Lorenza could get some new reading glasses. She was having a bit of trouble with fine print with her old pair so it was time for an eye test and some updated lenses. Lorenza got herself two pairs made on the spot and Tai negotiated a very good price for her. Lorenza was very happy with the outcome.
Hanoi Kids Club - ok by us! I will go into a bit more detail about this great service later - how
many cities in the world can you visit and get an insider’s tour for the price of lunch and a few cold drinks? Hanoi Kids Club is 110%!o(MISSING)k by us!
Some ethical shopping and dining in Hanoi 25/2/10 - During the last few days we did some gift and souvenir shopping and also dined at two great training restaurants.
We did our shopping at Craftlink and also the Hoa Sua Chef Collection Shop. Craftlink is a not for profit craft shop which helps build new markets for ethnic artisans. You can find them on the internet
here or at 43 Van Mieu St, Hanoi. They sell a big range of craft items that make for unique and inexpensive gifts.
The Hoa Sua Chef Collection Shop is located at 21D Ha Hoi, Hanoi. It is associated with the Hoa Sua Hospitality School for disadvantaged youth. The shop sells hand embroidered table items, such as table cloth, napkin and table runners - all good quality and nice designs, plus reasonably priced. You can find them on the internet
here Aside from shopping we also dined at the Hoa Sua training restaurant and also at KOTO (know
one teach one), which is another training restaurant to help street kids get skills for the hospitality industry. KOTO’s motto is “be the change you want to see in the world”. You can find more info about their activities
here The food at both these training restaurants is excellent, the service is great if you keep in mind that the majority of the staff are there for training so may not always be five star, but they are very, very good.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.319s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 32; qc: 139; dbt: 0.1909s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.4mb
